Parnell told his players to forget about the Mustangs' 0-2 record and the fact that they have beat McDonald County the last three seasons by 35 or more points.

"[McDonald County] lost to Aurora 56-21 last week, but the game was a lot closer than that score," he said. "I can tell you right now, they believe they can win on Friday."

Parnell did not hold back his displeasure of his squad's performance against Mountain Grove.

He specifically pointed to three turnovers, a botched extra point and to

mental mistakes on defense that led to two big Panther plays.

"You can't commit those types of mistakes and expect to come out on top in close ballgames," Parnell said. "We have to clean that up this week in practice and work on putting ourselves in better positions to win."